CHCA Celebrates the Class of 2024

Will was homeschooled through seventh grade and began attending CHCA in eighth grade. He has a deep love of nature, particularly of trees, which inspired him to found a Native Tree service group in eighth grade. Because of his efforts, more than 400 native trees have been distributed throughout the Cincinnati area. Will has been an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist since his junior year and has taken multiple tree classes from the International Society of Arboriculture as well as learning botany at Ohio State University’s Stone Labs. He also applied to the Arbor Day Foundation and achieved Tree Campus K-12 status for CHCA’s north campus—a national honor for the school—and spent last summer working for local arborist Kevin Lester. Will’s love of the natural world partially stems from being a lifelong Boy Scout. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow and is expecting to achieve his Eagle Scout rank in June 2024.

Will’s passion for trees is only matched by his love of music. He is an avid piano player and has played the double bass for CHCA’s Sinfonietta for the last four years. He also enjoys playing double bass for his church’s worship team. He recently composed his first piece for strings, entitled Dido, which was debuted by the CHCA Sinfonietta.

Will is an AP Scholar with Distinction, having taken 11 AP courses, and has been an active member of the CHCA Academic Team for the last three years. He is also a writer and can frequently be found reading and writing poetry. He has an interest in Latin, independently studying Botanical Latin with Mr. Compton, and was also the recipient of the Ohio State Seal of Biliteracy award.

Will plans to attend Yale University in the fall, where he will major in Environmental Studies with a focus on Urban Forestry.